According to Ayurveda
the body comprises of three primary life forces or humors. In Ayurvedic
terminology they are called doshas. The state of balance or equilibrium between these
three doshas in the body is called health and the
state of imbalance or disequilibrium is disease. The imbalance may be in one, two or all
the threedoshas. For example excess of vata causes arthritis and excess of pitta
causes acidity, ulcer and liver disorders.

All causative factors of disease internal or external directly
or indirectly create an imbalance in these doshas first and only then do the symptoms of the
disease manifest. The causative factors can be the food, life style or other activities.
All these factors are affecting one , two or all the three doshas.

So if you want to stay healthy, you
must know what are these factors which create an imbalance of doshas. As said earlier these
factors could be your diet, life style or daily activities. You will soon discover that
majority of foods and activities we practise in the modern world are increasing one or
more doshas. They are discussed briefly as below.

Some of the symptoms caused by excess
Kapha in the body are asthma, cold, congestion in the chest, anorexia and obesity.

Thus we can relate every aspect
of our life with these three doshas. If we have proper knowledge, we can maintain a
balance of these three doshas and avoid many serious problems and can thus stay
healthy. The treatment according to Ayurveda is to
balance thetridosha. While
making a diagnosis the Ayurvedic physician finds out which dosha is out of balance
and tries to make the balance by prescribing some natural medicines, diet and life style.

The
basic principles of Ayurvedic Treatment

The essence of treatment is the removal of the cause
and avoidance of causative factors.Ayurvedic
treatment does not mean suppressing the main symptoms and creating some new ones as side
effects of the main treatment. It is to remove the root cause and give permanent relief.
The medicines for the treatment mainly comprises of powders, tablets, decoctions,
medicated oils etc. prepared from natural herbs, plants and minerals. Because the
medicines are from natural sources and not synthetic, they are accepted and assimilated in
the body without creating any side effects and on the other hand, there may be some side
benefits.

The famous ayurvedic
physician Charaka identifies four factors that are essential for
successful medical treatment : The Physician, the remedy , the nurse and the patient.The
physician should be an expert in theory and in practice, skilful, and pure in body and
mind.Easy availability, appropriateness, utility in a variety of forms and high quality
characterize the optimal remedy. The best nurse is knowledgeable , skilful , sympathetic
and pure.The ideal patient is courageous, able to describe what he or she is feeling , and
remembers all the physician's instructions and follows them carefully; all these qualities
help the patient get well more easily.

Along with medicine, proper diet and living style is also
advised. This is equally important. If we are taking a medicine to remove the root cause
and at the same time we are taking some food or following a life style which is increasing
the cause of disease, then we may not get well or will be getting less relief. Panch Karma therapy is also used as a
treatment in many diseases.

Most of us have
many levels of toxins accumulated over a lifetime of indiscretions, all of which cannot be
released at once otherwise they will overhelm the excretory organs and ravage the
mind.Your mind and body have become habituated to these poisons, which have become part of
your equilibrium equation . Removing them all at once would seriously imbalance your
physical body and confuse your mind so that you no longer felt like 'yourself' .Purifying
the system is a long, slow process, requiring many cycles to expunge the many layers of
dirt.You must be patient with the process and with the newly developing you, just as you
would be patient with a slowly growing tree.
When you backslide and return temporarily to your old unhealthy ways , you must learn to
always pick yourself up, like a child learning to walk , and begin again.

The
basic principles of Ayurvedic treatment are immutable : how they are applied differs from
case to case. "Treatment is rooted in measure" : the effect of any particular therapy
on any particular patient depends on its dosage, which again depends upon the climate, the
doshas involved , the strength of the patient versus the strength of the disease, the
patients age and constitution , the specific syndrome, the patients social environment ,
the goal of treatment and so on. Time cycled, including 'disease time' and the joints of
seasons, are especially important , because the doshas are controlled differently at
different times, depending upon both external time and the disease's momentum within the
microcosm.Treatment is totally individualized, and so different
diseases may sometimes share a single therapy, while a single disease may be treated
differently in different patients according to the measure of the facors involved.

Thus we find that the methods of
treatment are based on simple and natural principles. To conclude we can say that, Ayurveda teaches a very systematic and scientific way of life which
is important to pursue both materially and spiritually. Fundamental principles, health
rules, knowledge of individual constitution
of our body, use of various herbs, minerals and specially Panch Karma therapy can be very safely
used by one and all, all over the world to, promote good health, prevent diseases and
acquire longevity.